Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Abbott joins peers in considering sale of mature drugs, Reuters saysAbbott (ABT) is working with Morgan Stanley (MS) to find a potential buyer for a portfolio of its off-patent drugs, Reuters said late Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Abbott's portfolio of assets being considered for sale could fetch more than $5B, the report quoted the sources as having said. Prior reports have indicated that Merck (MRK) and Sanofi (SNY) are also exploring potential sales of their portfolios of mature drugs. Reference Link

Merck's Keytruda approved by EU for treatment of advanced melanoma in adultsMerck announced that the European Commission has approved KEYTRUDA, the company’s anti-PD-1 therapy, for the treatment of advanced melanoma in adults. The European Commission approval of pembrolizumab is based on data from three clinical studies conducted in more than 1,500 first-line and previously-treated patients with advanced melanoma. Pembrolizumab received European Commission regulatory approval based on Phase 3 data which showed it is the first and only anti-PD-1 therapy to provide a statistically superior survival benefit as a monotherapy compared to ipilimumab, the current standard of care for advanced melanoma. Today’s approval allows marketing of pembrolizumab in all 28 EU member states at the approved dose of 2 mg/kg every three weeks. The European Commission’s approval is based on data from three studies -- KEYNOTE-001, KEYNOTE-002 and KEYNOTE-006. These studies evaluated the efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab in advanced melanoma patients – across treatment lines, prognostic factors, tumor characteristics, and BRAF mutational status – and established 2 mg/kg every three weeks as the approved dose.

Piper confident in Regeneron approval by FridayAfter Amgen's (AMGN) Repatha received marketing authorization in Europe, making it the first of the anti-PCSK9 antibody to be approved worldwide, Piper Jaffray analyst Edward Tenthoff expressed confidence that Regeneron (REGN) and Sanofi's (SNY) anti-PCSK9 antibody Praluent will be approved by Friday's FDA action date. Tenthoff believes Praluent will eventually be a blockbuster drug, but anticipates the launch to be slow. He keeps a Neutral rating on Regeneron with a $484 price target.

Analyst predicts Zoetis merges with Bayer unit, not ValeantZoetis (ZTS) in recent months has been the subject of takeover speculation, possibly for Valeant (VRX), but a Jefferies analyst told investors today in a research note that he views a deal with a unit of healthcare giant Bayer (BAYRY) as "highly likely" for the animal medicine company. BACKGROUND: Bill Ackman of Pershing Square, who owns stakes in both Zoetis and Valeant, said in early May while speaking on CNBC that Zoetis is a "great” business on a standalone basis, but he also spoke of the company's strategic value. Ackman added, however, that he was "not sure" that Valeant was the best acquirer of Zoetis. Subsequently, in late June, The Wall Street Journal reported that Valeant made a preliminary approach regarding a potential deal to buy Zoetis. CNBC's David Faber said the next day, citing his own sources, that Valeant reached out to Zoetis as a courtesy to common shareholder Ackman and was unlikely to pursue an acquisition of the company, though he cautioned then Valeant could change its approach and pursue a deal. BAYER: Jefferies analyst Jeffrey Holford said in a note today that he views a tie-up between Zoetis and Bayer's Animal Health business in 2016 as "highly likely." He sees Mylan's (MYL) acquisition of Abbott's (ABT) non‑U.S. developed markets specialty and branded generics business as a potential proxy for how a transaction could be structured, adding that such a "spinversion" could achieve up to 36% long-term earnings accretion for Zoetis. Holford reiterated a Buy rating on Zoetis with a $60 price target, while downgrading Bayer to Hold, citing valuation following the recent outperformance of its shares. IDEXX: While being discussed as a target, some analysts have also opined on companies that Zoetis could pursue as a buyer. On June 29, Canaccord said that in investor meetings with IDEXX (IDXX) executives declined to comment on Zoetis' potential interest in scaling up its animal health diagnostics business. Canaccord added that it thought Zoetis could make a bid for IDEXX. The firm reiterated its Buy rating and $80 price target on IDEXX shares at that time. PRICE ACTION: Since June 25, the day the Journal first reported on Valeant's preliminary takeover approach to Zoetis, the animal health company's shares have dropped nearly 4%. Zoetis closed down 20c to $47.80 on Friday.